Journal 3: T. Swift, Country or Not?

In the article, Is Taylor Swift Still Country? Do We Care? by Dave Heaton we get a really good description about Swifts variety of genres between her songs.  Heaton explains to us that Taylor swift not only has songs topping the charts in the country music genre, but the same songs are also fairly high up on the pop genre music charts.  Heaton uses the example of the song Teardrops on my Guitar. This song topped country music charts and also was #13 on the pop music charts.  I found this article to be interesting because as I am a country music fan, Taylor Swift’s music is something that tends to be a hit or a miss for me.  I think this is because she goes from country songs to pop songs all within the same CD. I really liked how Heaton went about writing this article.  Although he seemed to use Taylor Swift as a prime example, I understood that he was working to find the true definition behind the country music genre.  With both of these being a question in mind, I agree with Heaton that it is a challenge to label Taylor Swift as a specific genre artist because genres have a tendency to overlap and not necessarily have any specification to there qualifications. 

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/164138-is-taylor-swift-still-country-do-we-care/

Brief Screening Report: Evaluation Essay on Footloose

For my evaluation essay, I choose to review one of my favorite films, the new Footloose movie.  For me, the purpose of my paper is going to be to take criteria from the ideas of social and moral values and explain why they make this a great film.  One scene that I find to show many great ideas behind this movie would be the dancing scene at the Snack Bar. (Chapter 8, 31:20-36:30) During this scene, Ren’s friends take him down to a place they seem to like to hang out.  In this scene, they briefly talk about Woody getting tickets for public dancing and breaking the law.  During this scene, a large group of younger, mostly high school students, join together in a form of a street dance.  As they play music, many of these teenagers take a turn to show off there sweet dancing skills.  At the end of the scene, Ariel’s father comes to bring her money and sees his daughter involved in public dancing and playing loud music.  This ends the dancing scene especially for Ariel because her father was one of the individuals who created the law with no public dancing and loud music.  Evaluating this as a moral stand point, we know that this isn’t accepted in the town of Bomont because of the laws created from the big accident a few years prior.  But on a social stand point, what these teenagers are going is completely acceptable for there age.  We are able to see the disapproving father and how he sees this scene to be unacceptable.  Scenes like this make the movie. If everybody abided by the law, who would want to watch it? 

Journal 2: Footloose, The Best Movie Ever

I am currently in love with the new Footloose movie that came out last year.  This movie appealed to me in so many ways, but I find myself attached to cultural aspects it represents.  One of my very favorite actress Julianne Hough, plays Arial, the preachers daughter in this movie.  I found this movie to be really good, and appealing to a variety of individuals ranging in ages.  Footloose takes an evaluates and inquires situations many of us are experiencing in our day to day lives.   A few examples would include: Ren MacCormack is dealing with the death of his mother, Ariel who has strict parents and a Reverend as a father, and experiencing relationships with significant others which aren’t approved of by your parents.   This movie takes situations that are common in the average Joe’s life and makes a movie from there.  A common response to this being my favorite movie is “the original is better.”  But, I beg to differ.  I think that this is because I watched the original after seeing the new movie.  After seeing the new movie, I didn’t like the old one at all.  I found that even thought the ideas were the same in both movies, the scenes, ideas, and conversations were placed better in the new movie.  Maybe the original was fitting for the time period it came out during, but the new movie is more relatable for this day in age. My personal favorite scene in this movie is the very end, were they are having the dance in the old mill. I’m not sure if this movie was more appealing to me because I am a small town, country girl, but it is definitely my favorite right now.  

Journal 1: Packer Let-Down

            In  the article, “Winning Actually Isn’t the Only Thing” written by Davis Maraniss, Maraniss describes his feelings and opinions towards the end result of Monday night football game, involving the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks.  Although he is a strong Packer fan, the loss wasn’t what seemed to upset him the most.  Maraniss was incredibly upset by the way the Seahawks coach and quarterback reacted, having the attitude as if they won fairly.  The writer also talks about the philosophy of Vince Lombardi.  He agrees with Lombardi’s idea that winning isn’t everything, he just explains to us that he wants Seattle to not pretend as if they pulled of the greatest win, fairly.

            I was really impressed with how Maraniss wrote this article.  Although I missed the end of the game because I had to work, I saw the many replays, hours of Sports Center, and numerous Facebook post following this tragic loss. I think Mariness stated it well when he said “To say that was a touchdown and not an interception is to say black is white.”  Although I am a Packer fan, the loss wasn’t what did it for me.  I was incredible disappointed to here that the NFL has the ability to overturn it and choose not to because of Packer public display of the letdown.  When something this big happens, having a game changing call, it is always publicly displayed in this day in age.  I think that Maraniss did a great job relating to the idea of Coach Lombardi.  It isn’t the lose that is killing me, its the disappointment that I have in others, mainly the Seahawks team and fans, that gets me the most.  

Work Cited:

Maraniss, David. ‘Winning Actually isn’t the Only Thing.” washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post.26 Sept. 2012. Web. 27 Sept. 2012.

Believing Game part B

     I truly believe that athletics and sporting events in high school out do any college experience I have had.  First, in high school, it is much easy to know the athletes as friends/acquaintances than at a college with thousands of students.  Going to a game and cheering for your friends is more fun in my book than going and watching a bunch of people you do not know.  Also, I believe that high school sports have the ability to unite a school.  If it is having a team that is going undefeated, against a rival, or to the state championship game, people unit and go cheer on their teams.  This isn’t the case in college.  Sometimes, the opposing teams in college aren’t even familiar to students.   They are small out of state colleges that nobody has heard of.  In high school, the opposing teams were often neighboring towns, allowing the possibility of having friends on the opposing teams as well, creating more rivalries.  All in all, I strongly believe that high school sports provide a better experience than those in college. 

Believing Game part A

I whole heartedly believe that college athletics and sporting events are far better than anything I experienced during high school.  The most important reason college sports are better than high school is because the athletes are better at what they do.  Since colleges are able to recruit students from all over, the teams consist of the best of the best.  Another reason this events are better is because they are much larger.  With most college campus’ having thousands of students, these events attract massive amounts of viewers.  With this, these events often times make large amounts of money.  Although the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point allows students to view regular season games for free, with the presentation of the Point Card, many other schools charge excessive amounts of money for seats at their games.  Lastly, college athletics rank above high school sports in my opinion because are more important.  Winning a college level championship is much more legendary than any high school championship or award.

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